Abstract:
Focus refers to the part of a clause which provides the most relevant or salient
information in a given discourse situation, while interrogatives are conventionally
associated with the act of requesting information. Previous studies on the syntax of
Central Yorùbá dialects have focused on verb phrases, pronouns, relativisation and
negation, with little attention to focus and interrogatives. This study was, therefore,
designed to investigate the syntax of focus and interrogatives in Central Yorùbá
dialects, with a view to determining their forms, strategies and variations.
Noam Chomsky‟s Minimalist Program served as the framework, while the interpretive
design was used. Forty-eight native speakers aged 60 and above were purposively
selected for structured oral interview based on their proficiency, 12 each from Ilé-Ife,
Iléṣà, Adó- k t and Otùn Mo , which are the major areas where Central Yorùbá is
spoken. Data were elicited using the Ìbàdàn 400 Worldlist and Syntax Paradigm. Data
were subjected to syntactic analysis.
Central Yorùbá dialects employ three focus markers: ni, li and ri, which are optionally
dropped in constituent interrogatives. Six interrogative nouns referred to as Question
Nouns (QNs) were identifed: yѐsí/yѐ/ìsí (who), kí (what/how), èló/eélòó (how much),
mélóó (how many), èkelòó (what number), kà (ka ibi) (where). Kí is used either to
source information on a non-human referent: Kí i yè é? (What is this?) or about
manner: Kí è é ṣe dún? (How did it sound?). Central Yorùbá dialects operate a
resumptive pronoun ọ/ẹ whenever DP extraction occurs at subject position. The high
tone on the resumptive pronoun cliticises with focus marker li after dropping the
resumptive pronoun; Ayọ lí ra ẹran (Ayọ li ẹ ra ẹran) (It was Ayọ who bought meat).
The QNs are also base-generated at the subject position when the dialects operate
either kà: Kà tún rí Adé? (Where is Adé again?) or the copula ni: (Yèsí ni ọ? (Who are
you?). Other interrogative methods were identified: question verb (sí o); interrogative
qualifier (sí); yes/no question markers (ṣé, ǹ , ṣebí/ṣèbí/mbí); abstract yes/no question
marker and intonational accent with great loudness or pitch rising. There were
dialectal variations. Ni and li are in free variation except in If . Some parts of k t and
Mo use ìsí (who): Ìsí ọn rí? (Who did we see?) in the place of yѐsí, which is attested
by the Ife and j ṣà dialects: Yѐsí ó mí pè mí? (Who was calling me?). Some parts of
Ékìtì use the question phrase, ọkàn sí (which): n sí ọ fẹ? (Which one do you
want?), while the Ife and Ìj ṣà dialects use yèé sí: Yèé sí wọ a mú kò mí níbẹ? (Which
one will you give me among them?).
Central Yorùbá dialects use the same focus and interrogative strategies, although with
some dialectal variations in their forms.
